Dec. 29—VALDOSTA — Gasoline prices in South Georgia barely budged over the past week, matching state and national trends.

The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline in Valdosta Thursday was $2.98, up a penny from the previous week, according to the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report.

The lowest gas price reported in the Azalea City Thursday was $2.74 per gallon at a store on Norman Drive, while the lowest price reported in Tifton was $2.85 per gallon at multiple stores, according to the price tracking website gasbuddy.com.

Valdosta was tied with Gainesville and Columbus for the city with the seventh-highest average gas price Thursday out of the 15 Georgia markets monitored by the auto club: Below Savannah, Macon, Hinesville, Brunswick, Augusta and Atlanta but above Warner Robins, Rome, Dalton, Catoosa, Athens and Albany.

Nationally, the average price of gasoline Thursday was $3.12, unchanged over seven days, while Georgia's average of $3.01 was down a penny in the same period, AAA said.

"Daily gas prices will likely move back and forth for the next month or so," said Andrew Gross, AAA spokesperson. "Looking back at pre-pandemic 2019, the national average did not make a firm turn to moving higher daily until Valentine's Day, February 14."

In Thursday's market action, U.S. benchmark crude oil shed $1.03 to $73.04 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It declined by $1.46 on Wednesday.

Brent crude, the international standard, gave up 96 cents to $78.58 per barrel.

Terry Richards is the senior reporter for The Valdosta Daily Times.